à votre tour
by eponnia
Summary: Modern AU. "It's your turn to take care of the baby, Marius," Cosette murmured sleepily. [Previously titled "ce sera bientôn votre tour." 2012 film Mosette one-shot.]


à votre tour

SUMMARY: Modern AU. "It's your turn to take care of the baby, Marius," Cosette murmured sleepily. [Previously titled "ce sera bientôn votre tour." 2012 film Mosette one-shot.]

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here's my first Marius/Cosette, which I like to call Mosette, based on the 2012 film with Eddie Redmayne as Marius and Amanda Seyfried as Cosette. This is set in modern times, and the 1832 barricades are now a (peaceful) protest. **

**I've always had a headcanon that Marius and Cosette named their son Victor for two reasons – one, as a nod to Victor Hugo, and two, a reference to the barricades/protest (in modern times) because, though they didn't win, it would be a constant reminder of the cause. **

**The title , **_**à**__** votre tour**_** (previously **_**ce sera bientôn votre tour)**_**, is French for **_**your turn**_**, but the translation sounds much more impressive. **

* * *

Marius had been in the middle of a pleasant dream when the baby's cries woke him.

He forced his eyes open, fighting the throes of sleep. His wife lay beside him in bed, her face burrowed into a pillow. She slowly moved towards him, wisps of blonde hair in her face and her eyes barely open. "It's your turn to take care of the baby, Marius," Cosette murmured sleepily.

A particularly piercing cry came from the nursery, and Marius dragged himself into a sitting position, running a hand through his tousled reddish-brown hair. "I'm going, I'm going," he muttered, standing. He was so exhausted he almost fell over as he stumbled out of the room, expecting to hear Cosette laugh quietly. When he looked back at her, however, she was already asleep.

He went to the nursery and approached the crib where a red-faced month-old was wailing. Marius picked up the infant and cradled him in one arm, making sure to support his head. "It's okay, Victor," he whispered. "I'm here. It's okay."

Victor looked at his father for a moment, and Marius felt a flicker of hope rise in his chest. Then the infant began to cry again.

Marius did everything he could think of, but, after fifteen minutes had gone by and Victor had been changed and refused to eat, Marius was running out of options. Leaving the kitchen after another unsuccessful attempt to feed Victor more formula, he carried his son back to the nursery. Moving the still-crying infant from his arms to rest against his shoulder, lightly running a hand over Victor's small back, he pulled out his last alternative – talking.

"Do you want to know how you got your name, Victor?" he asked quietly, trying not to wake Cosette across the hall. "I was in a riot when I was in college – a protest, really. I hope that will score me some dad points when you get older, but maybe you'll just be embarrassed I was part of it.

"It was a peaceful protest, don't worry. At least we planned it that way. We went to the capitol building and tried to rally the people, but it didn't exactly work the way we hoped. I should probably explain who we were – are, technically.

"The leader was Enjolras. I would say is, but we aren't really an official group anymore. I guess we grew up and learned that changing the world wasn't as straightforward as we thought. He was the most dedicated of us all, always pushing us to be even better. He is a brilliant speaker, and he could probably convince a river to flow the other way if he wanted to. But the one person who disagreed with him to his face was Éponine.

"I used to be good friends with Éponine, but we've drifted apart over the years. Your mother told me Éponine was in love with me, but I regret to say I never knew. Something changed between us after the protest, and we don't talk much anymore. She and Enjolras starting dating after the protest failed, and they're engaged now.

"I know that some considered me to be Enjolras' right hand man, but that was really Combeferre. He made sure that all of Enjolras' ideas actually worked. He, Feuilly, and Jehan were the ones who did the posters – Jehan designed them, Feuilly printed them, and Combeferre made sure they were all over the city…"

Marius paused for a moment, a look of regret in his eyes. "I'm sure you would have liked Jehan. His real name was Jean Prouvaire, but someone called him Jehan by mistake one day and the name stuck. He was a poet…" He trailed off. "He was the only one of our group that didn't make it out. He was shot by a police officer and died before we could get him to a hospital."

He began to pace, forcing a light tone into his voice. "Then there's Lesgle, who went bald at twenty-five; a result of his notorious bad luck, he always said. Courfeyrac was and still is one of my best friends, but ever since he moved I've lost touch with him. Joly, our resident medical student, is a hypochondriac. I'll explain what that means when you get older. Bahorel wasn't actually a college student, but we worked at the café where we had meetings and joined our cause. The only one I haven't told you about is Grantaire.

"I never really knew if he was for our cause. He showed up to the meetings and went to the protest, but he never said if he truly believed in what the rest of us did. He drank a lot, but I'll give him this – he was the most attentive of us all when Enjolras gave a speech."

Marius smiled, looking at the now-sleeping infant on his shoulder. Shifting the baby to the crook of his arm, he said quietly, "And that is a very long explanation of why your name is Victor. Because, though our protest didn't succeed, the cause will live on through people like you when you grow up, if you choose to continue it. But I told you about it, didn't I? Now Uncle Enjolras and Aunt Éponine won't get mad at me."

He carefully moved Victor to the crib, the infant staying blissfully asleep. Marius felt a hand slip into his, and he looked down to see Cosette lean her head on his shoulder. "That was a very long explanation," she whispered with a smile.

"Enjolras made me promise to tell Victor."

"Victor's a month old. He'll never remember."

"I kept my promise to Enjolras, didn't I?"

Cosette kissed Marius on the cheek as he wrapped an arm around her waist. "Let's go to bed," she said softly.

Victor did not cry for the rest of the night.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: "I hope that will score me some dad points when you get older" is my favorite line in this entire fic.** **Thought you might want to know.**

**I don't write much about Les Amis, so I hope the little descriptions were accurate. I know that Bahorel isn't in the musical and/or film, but I decided to throw a bit of the Brick in there, because everyone needs a bit more of Victor Hugo in their lives. **


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